


Sunlight in the Forest

by LadyThrimbletrimmer



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Look me in the eye and tell me that Chandra is straight and cis I dare you., Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-07-26 14:24:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7577515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyThrimbletrimmer/pseuds/LadyThrimbletrimmer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the battle for Zendikar but before SOI, Chandra and Nissa take a walk in the woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey, Chandra?”

Chandra recoiled, startled awake. She lept to her feet, glancing side to side for whatever enemy had interrupted her nap. The pyromancer only relaxed once she recognized Nissa.

“What’s up?”

“I’m going on a walk. Want to come?”

Chandra stared at the elf for a moment. “Sure,” she said. Of all the people Nissa could have asked, why her? Surely a tree-lover would prefer the company of those who didn’t shoot fire from their hands.

Nissa led the way into a forest, one of the few still left on Zendikar. The walk quickly turned into something more of a meander as Nissa stopped to look at the various flowers. From each plant she extracted a blossom- not ripping it off, as Chandra would, but with care and permission. They all had names, uses, and important meanings for the elves. Nissa explained each one as she added the flowers to a circlet.

“And this one is- sorry, Chandra, I must be boring you to tears.”

“You know, you’re honestly not.” It was true- Nissa wasn’t boring. It was peaceful, listening to the animist describe the flowers like a proud grandparent.

“I just really like flowers,” she said, giving an embarrassed grin. 

“Nothing wrong with that. I think they’re pretty too.” That was apparently the right thing to say. Nissa’s smile was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

“Here, bend over for a second.” Wary, Chandra lowered her head. Nissa gently placed the crown of flowers on the pyromancer’s head, settling on top of her goggles. “Aww, you look so lovely!”

“Wait, is why you took me in here? To put flowers on my head?”

“Yep!”

“My head, which becomes engulfed in flames when I use my magic?”

“Well when you put it like that, I guess I’ll just take it back.” Nissa reached out a hand to take the crown, and Chandra swatted it away.

“I didn’t say that.” Chandra reached up and touched the flowers. The petals were so soft, like fine woven silk. “Thank you for this. You’re sure I look okay?”

“You look great! Want to see? I know a pond where you can get a good look.”

“Yeah, okay.” The pyromancer resisted the urge to keep touching the delicate flower crown as Nissa led her to the pond.

They looked into the water together. Nissa had been correct- the flowers were lovely. It sent a wave of euphoria through Chandra’s body.

“Chandra, are you… crying?”

Instinct told the pyromancer to deny it, to laugh it off, to shove Nissa into the water. Instead, she explained everything. Her father’s silent disapproval, her mother’s tears, the mockery of the other children and the naked disgust from other adults. She told Nissa about how the monks had not simply trained her to master fire, but to be seen as Chandra.

 

Nissa listened, as attentive and accepting as Chandra could have ever hoped. When the pyromancer was done, the elf replied:

“Well, you definitely don’t seem like an Anshu to me.”

At this Chandra laughed, and pulled Nissa into a hug. They stayed like that for a while, as tears finished streaming down Chandra’s face.

“Would you like to go for a swim?” Nissa finally asked.

“Yeah, okay.”

It was hours before they met back up with Gideon and Jace. Chandra’s hair was dripping wet, the crown prominently displayed. The bright colors of the flowers perfectly matched her smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pro Wrestling AU.
> 
> Nissa Revane is a superstar who sometimes feels lost in the MTG wrestling organization. Maybe the new girl, an energetic redhead fresh from the indie circuit, can help her feel more at home.

The locker room was always quiet on Wednesday mornings. Nissa savored the silence, if nothing else. The room was too hard, too angular, too metal for her liking. When the other wrestlers were in here talking, it became unbearable. It brought back bad memories of high school, trying to stifle a panic attack while the other girls gossiped.

Nissa’s moment of reverie was shattered when the door opened. She closed her eyes, dismayed. Who was it going to be this time. Ideally Tamiyo, she at least was politely terse. Arlinn and Kaya always wanted to chat. Nissa turned.

It was none of the other wrestlers she knew. Presumably this was the new girl.

“Can I help you?”

The new girl jumped. “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone else was in here.”

“It’s fine. You’re Chandra, right?”

The new girl nodded. She looked like she was about to vomit.

“Well, welcome to the MTG. I’m Nissa.”

The new girl nodded again. She was staring wide-eyed at Nissa. Oh no, she’s a fan. Fans always made Nissa feel like she was going to let them down somehow.

“Listen, I’m going to head to the meeting room. Just get changed and come meet me there. Everyone else will be here in an hour or so.” As Nissa walked out, Chandra moved to the side to let her pass by. Her face was bright pink. It was... really cute, actually.

...

“Okay boys and girls, gather round.” Liliana clapped her hands for attention. The conversation in the room petered out as the wrestlers turned their attention towards her. “First up, meet Chandra. If any of you have seen her indie matches, then I’m sure you’ll agree that we expect much from her.”

Chandra stood up and waved at the other wrestlers. There was a polite round of applause. Nissa glanced around at the others. It seemed that a few of them had seen Chandra in the ring. Arlinn was the most excited among them, but she got excited easily.  
“Okay, now we’re going to do a quick overview of the coming few months before we pass out scripts for Sunday. Commander is coming up, we have to headline that with at least a triple threat...”

...

Nissa thumbed through her script. It seemed that she didn’t have much to say this week, which was fine by her. She and Elspeth had a match, which Vraska would interrupt to give Elspeth the pin. Fine. There was no shame in losing to the champion... for the seventh time this year. Nissa glanced over at Elspeth, who gave her an apologetic shrug. Nissa waved it off. If the writers wanted them to have the same match again, so be it.

Out of curiousity, Nissa looked over to Chandra. She had paired up with Jace, and the two were rehearsing an interstitial bit.

“There’s no way you can really read minds.”  
“Oh, I can do so much more than read.”  
“No way.”  
“Indeed.”  
“What number am-”  
“Six.”  
“Whooaaa.”

Nissa chuckled at that. The lines were mediocre, but Chandra had an obvious knack for delivery.

“She’s good.” Nissa looked up. Liliana was behind her, also looking at Chandra. “Reminds me of a young Jaya Ballard.”

“I hope she meets your expectations.”

“Maybe you can help me out there.” Liliana nodded at the script. “Nahiri has a thing this weekend, so we have to shuffle around the women’s matches. I want you against Chandra. You okay with that?”

“Yes, of course.” Nissa could tell that she had replied too eagerly. She saw Liliana pause for just a moment before moving along.

...

Nissa and Chandra spent the next few days rehearsing. By Saturday, Nissa had never been more excited for a match. Chandra had a volatile energy unlike anyone else she had wrestled. She was everywhere. One second she was bouncing off the ropes in front of you, the next she was tackling you from behind. And she was strong, too. Mark, the choreographer, had been bouncing up and down when Chandra had shown that she could lift Nissa up over her head.

Their match that Sunday was flawless. Chandra’s raw energy and Nissa’s technical skill brought the crowd into roaring excitement. And at the end, when Nissa “tripped” Chandra, caught her by the arm and whirled her around into a piledriver, the whole stadium shook with cheers.

“That’s the Worldwaker!” called out Urza from the announcement table. “Nissa hits the Worldwaker! And the ref is counting down- One! Two! Three! Nissa Revane with the win, my GOD what a match!”

Nissa soaked in the cheers. The crowd was chanting World-Wake! World-Wake! World-Wake! She was over the moon. 

Then she looked down at Chandra. That was a mistake. The girl was looking back at her with such boundless joy and admiration that her face was shining like the sun. Nissa felt her ears turning bright red. She wanted to run. Instead, she helped Chandra to her feet and shook her hand.

...

“That was awesome!”

They were back in the locker room. Nissa was washing off her face paint. Chandra was beside her, reenacting their match. “Great crowd tonight, wasn't it? I've never felt so pumped up in my life!”

Nissa nodded as she took out her earplugs. “I'm glad that the crowd got behind you so quickly.”

“Yeah, well, it helped that you were in there with me. Everybody loves you.”

“Me?” Nissa stared blankly at Chandra. “But I lose all the time.”

“So? Anybody can be told that they have to win or lose a match. But you make it work. You're an artist in the ring.” Midway through the last sentence, Chandra had a look like she was desperately trying to stop the words from coming out of her mouth. “I mean, that’s what they say on the columns and stuff. You’re real good.” 

Nissa’s ears had started burning red again. “Would you like to get out of here?” she heard herself say. “There’s a diner I like on the other side of town. If we leave now, we can avoid the crowd.”

Chandra, her jaw shut tight as steel, nodded enthusiastically. Together they departed. The two could still hear the roar of the crowd behind them as they walked together into the cool, quiet night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rest assured: they gonna kiss.
> 
> I mentioned that I may be inclined to write more with this ship if WOTC provided fodder, and the Magic Story installment "Homesick" really qualified. But I didn't feel inclined to write more in the canon setting. Then I stumbled upon this idea for an AU, and the rest just clicked. It's just a quick drabble, nothing fancy, but I think it's cute.

**Author's Note:**

> Come on people, no Chandra x Nissa on this site? They're allied colors, and they have at least as much chemistry as Chandra does with, say, Gideon. 
> 
> Anyway, trans Chandra is a headcanon that I will defend against literally anyone. Mark Rosewater himself couldn't convince me that Chandra is cis. He could challenge me to a bare-knuckle brawl, whoop my chubby tush into a trash can, and I would still call back that Chandra isn't cis. I doubt that he would do that, he seems like a nice enough guy, but you get my meaning.


End file.
